We wanted to leave not too late this morning. So a quick stop at Lidl and we were away. Toulouse here we come. Or perhaps not. You've guessed it, Marge just wouldn't stop heating up. So after a while, in the middle of the French countryside, goodness knows where we stopped her at the side of the road. John opened her bonnet and proceeded to remove the screw that held the cap to release air from one of her coolant hoses. Then events took a turn for the worse, he dropped the cap into the engine bay! With no cap, the coolant began to escape. At which point should we give in? Marge you're becoming just too much. We are starting to wonder if we're overthinking Marge's problem. The temperature gauge rarely moves from its correct position. It's the nano-com connected to the ecu that shows the temperature increasing. Only once did the needle on the gauge go into the red whilst in Scotland, and we slogged up some big ole hills whilst there. Should we abandon the nano-com and just drive by the gauge? Probably too late now. We'd always wonder what the reading was. If you're our age, or older, you'll remember the good old days when your dad changed the thermostat which was positioned on top of the radiator by removing two screws. Job done. Overheating problem solved. Problem with the fan belt. Easy. Whip off your tights wife, they always made a good substitute. Now it's all computers and sensors constantly complaining. As we sorted Marge out, the temperature rose outside. Nice. Well for us, probably not Marge. But being stuck out in the middle of nowhere was worrying. Would this moment be Marge's demise. No. John found the cap. And at that moment how grateful were we to the young man at Norauto for giving us a nearly full large container of coolant. Our planned trip to Toulouse aborted, we headed north to Valence d'Agen where there was a municipal campsite still open. Arriving just after one, the campsite reception closed until four, we accessed the site by foot, ate lunch at one of the picnic tables, washed some smalls and waited.
The site is very nice. It's like staying in a lovely park. Well Marge, you've excelled yourself today. We travelled about thirty miles. As soon as we could book in, we showered, washed yet more clothes and then walked up to the nearby town, which on the approach we realised we'd visited before last year whilst cycling.
Then a snacky meal to end the day whilst the sun went down, turning the sky pink, then mauve, then orange.
As we ate we could hear music nearby. 'I was lost in France, with my coolant seeping out'.
Shut up Marge. Not funny. John, turn up the Gypsy Kings!
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